History, 1838–1856, volume B-1
[1 September 1834–2 November 1838]

be occupied by the presidency and Twelve
in speaking each in January 17.
their turn, until they had all spoken. The Lord poured out his Spirit upon
us, and the brethren began to confess their faults one to
the other, and the congregation were soon
overwhelmed in tears, and some of our hearts were too big for utterance.
The gift of tongues came on us also like the rushing of a mighty
wind, and my soul was filled with the Glory of God. In the afternoon I
joined three couple in matrimony in the public congregation, viz.
William F. Cahoon

16 May 1816–9 Mar. 1854. Nurse. Born at Lisle, Broome Co., New York. Daughter of Alpheus Cutler and Lois Lathrop. Baptized into LDS church at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married to Tunis Rappleye by JS, 17 Jan. 1836, at Kirtland. Moved to Crooked River near...

s, which was prepared for the
occasion, and had a good time while partaking of the rich repast, and
I verily realized that it was good for brethren to dwell together in
unity, like the dew upon the mountains of Israel, where the Lord commanded
blessings, even life forevermore.

18.
Monday the 18th attended the Hebrew School. This day the
elder’s school was removed into the
Temple

JS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...

19
Tuesday 19th. Spent the day at school. The Lord
blessed us in our studies. This day we commenced reading in our Hebrew
Bibles with much success. It seems as if the Lord opens our minds in
a marvellous manner to understand his word in the original language; and
my prayer is that God will speedily endue us with a knowledge of all
languages and tongues, that his servants may go forth for the last
time to bind up the law and seal up the testimony.

Marriage Certificate
Form of,— MarriageCertificate.

I hereby
certify that agreeably to the rules and regulations of the church of
Christ of Latter Day Saints, on matrimony, were joined in marriage Mr
William F. Cahoon

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

20
Wednesday Morning 20th. attended school
at the usual hour, and spent the day in reading and lecturing, and
made some advances in our studies. At evening I attended on a
matrimonial occasion, with my family, at Mr
John
Johnson

14 Apr. 1779–30 July 1843. Farmer, innkeeper. Born at Chesterfield, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Son of Israel Johnson and Abigail Higgins. Married Alice (Elsa) Jacobs, 22 June 1800. Moved to Pomfret, Windsor Co., Vermont, ca. 1803. Settled at Hiram, Portage...

10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...

in the following order, The presidency and their companions
in the first seats, The Twelve Apostles in the second, the Seventy in the
third, and the remainder of the congregation seated with their Companions.
[p. 693]

be occupied by the presidency and Twelve
in speaking each in <January 17.>
their turn, until they had all spoken. The Lord poured out his Spirit upon
us, and the brethren began to confess their faults one to
another the other, and the congregation were soon
overwhelmed in tears, and some of our hearts were too big for utterance.
The gift of tongues came on us also like the rushing of a mighty
wind, and my soul was filled with the Glory of God. In the afternoon I
joined three couple in matrimony in the public congregation, viz.
William F. Cahoon

16 May 1816–9 Mar. 1854. Nurse. Born at Lisle, Broome Co., New York. Daughter of Alpheus Cutler and Lois Lathrop. Baptized into LDS church at Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married to Tunis Rappleye by JS, 17 Jan. 1836, at Kirtland. Moved to Crooked River near...

s, which was prepared for the
occasion, and had a good time while partaking of the rich repast, and
I verily realized that it was good for brethren to dwell together in
unity, like the dew upon the mountains of Israel, where the Lord commanded
blessings, even life forevermore.

<18.>
Monday the 18th attended the Hebrew School. This day the
elder’s school was removed into the
chapel <Temple>

JS revelation, dated Jan. 1831, directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” In Dec. 1832, JS revelation directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS revelation, dated 1 June 1833, chastened...

<19>
Tuesday 19th. Spent the day at school. The Lord
blessed us in our studies. This day we commenced reading in our Hebrew
Bibles with much success. It seems as if the Lord opens our minds in
a marvellous manner to understand his word in the original language; and
my prayer is that God will speedily endue us with a knowledge of all
languages and tongues, that his servants may go forth for the last
time to bind up the law and seal up the testimony.

<Marriage Certificate>
Form of,— MarriageCertificate.

I hereby
certify that agreeably to the rules and regulations of the church of
Christ of Latter Day Saints, on matrimony, were joined in marriage Mr
William F. Cahoon

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

<20>
Wednesday Morning 20th. attended school
at the usual hour, and spent the day in reading and lecturing, and
made some advances in our studies. At evening I attended on a
matrimonial occasion, with my family, at Mr
John
Johnson

14 Apr. 1779–30 July 1843. Farmer, innkeeper. Born at Chesterfield, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Son of Israel Johnson and Abigail Higgins. Married Alice (Elsa) Jacobs, 22 June 1800. Moved to Pomfret, Windsor Co., Vermont, ca. 1803. Settled at Hiram, Portage...

10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...

in the following order, The presidency and their companions
in the first seats, The Twelve Apostles in the second, the Seventy in the
third, and the remainder of the congregation seated with their Companions.
[p. 693]

This document, volume B-1, is
the second of the six volumes of the “Manuscript History of the Church.” The
collection was compiled over the span of seventeen years,
1838 to 1856. The narrative in
volume B-1 begins with the entry for 1 September
1834, just after the conclusion of the Camp of Israel (later called
Zion’s Camp), and continues to 2 November
1838, when
JS was interned as a prisoner of war at
Far
West

Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...

, serving as
JS’s “private secretary and historian,” completed
the account of JS’s history contained in volume A-1 in August 1843. It covered the period from JS’s birth in
1805 through the aftermath of the Camp of Israel
in August 1834. When work resumed on the
history on 1 October 1843, Richards started
a new volume, eventually designated B-1.

At the time of
JS’s death in June
1844, the account had been advanced to 5
August 1838, on page 812 of volume B-1.
Richards

, assisted by
Thomas
Bullock, resumed gathering the records and reports needed to draft the
history. Richards then composed and drafted roughed-out notes while Thomas
Bullock compiled the text of the history and inscribed it in B-1. They
completed their work on the volume on or about 24
February 1845. Richards,
Willmer
Benson, and
Jonathan Grimshaw later added ten pages of
“Addenda,” which provided notes, extensive revisions, or additional text to be
inserted in the original manuscript where indicated.

Though
JS did not dictate or revise any of the text
recorded in B-1,
Willard Richards

and
Thomas
Bullock chose to maintain the first-person, chronological narrative
format established in A-1 as if JS were the author. They drew from a variety of
primary and secondary sources including JS’s diaries and letters, minutes of
meetings, the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, church and other
periodicals, reports of JS’s discourses, and the reminiscences and
recollections of church members. As was the case with A-1, after JS’s death,
Brigham
Young

1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...

14 June 1801–22 June 1868. Blacksmith, potter. Born at Sheldon, Franklin Co., Vermont. Son of Solomon Farnham Kimball and Anna Spaulding. Married Vilate Murray, 22 Nov. 1822, at Mendon, Monroe Co., New York. Member of Baptist church at Mendon, 1831. Baptized...

26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into LDS church by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Labored on Kirtland temple...

, and others modified and
corrected the manuscript as they reviewed material before its eventual
publication.

Beginning in March
1842 the church’s Nauvoo periodical, the Times and
Seasons, began publishing the narrative as the “History of Joseph Smith.”
It was also published in England in the church
periodical the Millennial Star beginning in
June 1842. Once a press was established in
Utah and the Deseret News began
publication, the “History of Joseph Smith” once more appeared in print in
serialized form. Beginning with the November
1851 issue, the narrative picked up where the Times
and Seasons had left off over five years earlier.

The narrative recorded in B-1 continued the story of
JS’s life as the prophet and president of the
church he labored to establish. The account encompasses significant
developments in the church’s two centers at that time—Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

—during a four-year-span. Critical
events included the organization of the Quorums of the Twelve Apostles and the
Seventy, the dedication of the House of the Lord in Kirtland, Ohio, the
establishment of the Kirtland Safety Society, dissension and apostasy in
Kirtland and Missouri, the first mission to England,
JS’s flight from Kirtland to Missouri in the
winter of 1838, the Saints’
exodus from Kirtland later that year, the disciplining of the Missouri
presidency, and the outbreak of the Missouri War and arrest of JS. Thus, B-1
provides substantial detail regarding a significant period of church expansion
and transition as well as travail.

and
Thomas
Bullock; 297 pages, plus 10 pages of addenda; CHL. This is the second
volume of a six-volume manuscript history of the church. This second volume
covers the period from 1
September 1834 to 2 November 1838; the subsequent four volumes, labeled
C-1 through F-1, continue through 8 August
1844.